


Butterflies

by Trashmutt



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Apocalypse, Confessions, Crushes, Cuddling, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Nicks gotta crush but he wont admit it, Zombie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-28 22:38:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13913622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trashmutt/pseuds/Trashmutt
Summary: Nick thinks Ellis is really cute when h- wait what the fuck was he saying?4 part story on these two dorks <3 + constant teasing from both Rochelle and Coach





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HEWWO! ive had the first part of this story done for SO LONG and i recently got around to finishing it!!!!!!! im so proud of this!!!!!!!

Nick plopped down in the corner of the small, but surprisingly spacious, safe room. Ellis was letting Rochelle patch up a gnarly looking gash on his right arm and chatting away about god-knows what like they weren't in the middle of the fucking apocalypse. Nick could never understand how the kid could be so happy-go-lucky about all of this. In a way he kinda envied him for it. Being able to smile during the roughest of times was definitely a valuable trait to have... "Y'know this reminds me of the time me n' Keith went fishin'," Ellis nostalgically announced to no longer rochelle but to everyone in the room, "Hoooo boy, this should be good." Coach snickered at the thought of what dumb thing keith must of did, taking a pain pill. Rochelle chuckled and stood up, examining her work on Ellis' arm and seemed satisfied, "Oh yeah? And did Keith get attacked by a hunter yelling "aaa guys help me aaa"?" she mimicked. "Hell no, ya see me n' keith were walking down to the river, right? Well Keith decided to try n' show off and tried to jump to a big ol' rock from this HUGE hill," Ellis added emphasis by flinging his arms up, ",well he jumped and than WHAM," Ellis smacked his hands together, ", he smacks his face right into the rock, we took him to the hospital and he broke his nose! Poor guy was more upset about lookin’ stupid than how he lost his sniffer" Ellis laughed. "Your buddy Keith sure was stupid, boy." Coach humored out loud."Yeah he sure as hell was. He knew how to have a good time though.'' Ellis had a nostalgic look on his face for a few seconds. "Yeah, how did keith survive so long when he went and did all that shit?" Rochelle smiled and put a finger to her chin like she was deep in thought "Beats me, think his ma n’ pa made him indestructible or something, thats what dave always said back in those hospital visits!" Ellis chuckled"Well either way he still was a fucking idiot." Nick finally joined in, standing up and walking towards the little band of misfits. "Well then you too have something in common there, Nick." Rochelle smirked and raised an eyebrow at him, leaning back on the wall and crossing her arms. "Yeah! I remember when you tried jumping across that stream by stepping on the rocks! You fell right in, oh man were you soaked! You could see right through that suit of yours!" Everyone broke into a fit of snickers and laughs, all of them remembering how Nick's face was pure red because of how pissed he was. "Atleast i didn't get sidehumped by a witch and had to be saved 10 million times." Nick retorted the first insult that came to mind with a flush coming to his face, he quickly forced it down.. " Yer just jealous the witch finds me more attractive than yew." Ellis grinned and leaned over towards nick and gave him a look of pure mischief. Nick made a face between anger and disgust. His nose was all crinkled and his teeth started to clamp together.." Ellis, you do know that the witch's pussy must be all mushy and all over the place." "Yeah, never said i'd fuck her, but if i did i'd be getting more than yew." Ellis smiled cockily. "Your a fucking piece of shit, Ellis." Nick glared at the southerner and crossed his arms. "Yew know yew love me." Ellis teased, poking his tongue out ,."Go fuck yourself." Nick snarled and pushed the other mans face away from him, "Why? Wanna picture?" Ellis giggled, completely ignoring the fact of how Nick had just pushed him with nothing more than him shaking his head like a dog who had just come inside from the rain. Nick was flustered to all hell, but he had learned to hide it well, "You better hope your lack of brain cells kills you before i do, hick." Nick massaged the bridge of his nose, defeated he stormed off to the bed he had claimed his own on the other side of the room. Ellis grinned at the fact that he had won this argument, "Ha! Well anyways, Nick's got the right idea there, im gonna head to bed too." Rochelle smiled and paddedoff towards her small bed in the corner, yawning, "Yeah me too, " Coach grinned softly, "Night Ellis." he gave younger man a rough pat on the shoulder as a goodbye and made his way over to his bed, f. “Night y'all! See ya in the morning!” Ellis skipped over to a wall, which happened to be close to nick's bed, and quickly drifted off leaning against it, Nick had no clue why he would ever do that, the bed’s weren’t half bad. He didn't quite feel like asking him though.  
Now Nick was alone. He wanted to go to bed, hell he knew he should, but he was wide awake. Nick compromised this as 'taking watch',even though he knew they had a slim chance of getting attacked in the safe room. He sighed, sat up from his fake sleep, grabbed a hold of his rifle and sat on his makeshift bed. The conman watched the ground silently, imagining how many people had been in the exact same spot he was, if there were any. He laughed quietly to himself, he always had a habit of doing that, taking hopeful things and finding a way to make them depressing. He at first thought it was the apocalypse, but then remembered he did it quite often in the normal world too. The normal world. Memories came flooding back to him, even though there weren't to many good ones to display. Maybe it was better this way , he thought, he never would’ve found the closest friends of his life if everything hadn’t went to shit. Man, that’s so pathetic. He thought meekly. You have to use the damn apocalypse to make any damn friends, I bet they don't even want to be your friend. Nick’s frown deepened as tears fought to break out. He knew he couldn't cry, not here, not ever, It was a sign of weakness, and in this world showing weakness could lead to terrible things. The lanky man slowly looked over to Ellis's slumped over body leaning on the wall, and he smiled, a real, genuine, shaky smile as a tear rolled down his cheek. He didn't know why he found comfort in the annoying kid, but he did. He found it to be the weirdest thing ever, one look at him and he almost instantly got this feeling in his gut that everything would be okay. Nick thought about how ellis would always swear like a sailor when he got grabbed by a Smoker. How Ellis would always smile a pointy-toothed smile when he shot it down. How confident he seemed to always be. Nick's tears started to dry up. He could be like him. He could be strong, he could forget about the past and put on a brave face. Nick smiled softly, but no matter how hard i try i could never be as brave as him,a voice in the back of his mind whispered from the depths. "Goddamnit." he cursed lowly, there he went again. The conman gave a sigh and laid back down on his bed, setting his rifle down and closing his eyes as he drifted off to a dreamless sleep.


	2. Badassery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning time!

Nick jolted awake the next morning to a sing-song voice echoing throughout the safe house, "Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!!! We got some zombie huntin to do y'all!". Ellis. of course. Fucking kid couldnt let him get even an ounce of extra sleep. It was kinda funny, it was like an alarm clock, he always found it weird he was up before everyone though. He decided it was something the hick did back in redneck town or something. "Jeez ellis, can i have just 5 more minutes?" Rochelle yawned out sleepily, sitting up and stretching. Ellis only bounced and handed her her axe, "Nope! Big day today!" Coach sat up from his bed and rubbed his eyes, "You say that everyday, you got any more catchphrases, boy?" he chuckled out sleepily. Ellis only beamed brighter as he handed the bigger man his shotgun and laughed, "Course i do! ahm just warming up is all!" Nick observed how ellis took everything Coach said to heart, the kid must of really respected him. Nick felt a pang in his chest, he felt.... jealous? no. couldn't be it. nuh uh.no way. nope. He shrugged it off as those pain pills had hastily swallowed down and stood up to grab his gun before ellis could toss it to him. " Nicky! First time we didn't have to pull ya outta yer bed to get you up!" Ellis played and took a step closer to the conman. Nick grumbled as he remembered all those times where he really was pulled out of bed and how many times he had hit his head because of it. He’s pretty sure he's gotten brain damage from it. "Piss off, i've learned from experience that when your around I can't get an ounce of sleep." That was a lie, he actually slept very well next to ellis, probably even better if he was clo- nope. nuh uh. shut up. Ellis only snickered and announced to everyone that he was gonna go through the safe house to see if they had left anything behind. Coach chuckled from behind him. "That boy sure is responsible when he wants to be."Nick looked back and could see pride in the old man's eyes. "Oh please, he makes sure we have our stuff one time." Nick rolled his eyes and slunk back on the wall, he was ready to get to the next safehouse and sleep already.   
Rochelle gave him a look. The same one she'd been giving him a lot lately, like she was thinking about something. "Don't be so rude, nick! Kid's just looking out for us, you should try being nicer, maybe he might like you more." she gave him a teasing wink and grinned. What the hell. What the fuck. fuck. fuckkkk. Nick could feel the butterflies in his stomach rising up, his face wanted so badly to heat up but he forced it not too. Fuck what did she mean? what was that wink for? why did it make him so damn giddy???? Nick opened his mouth to tell her off but suddenly Ellis skipped his way back. "All clear! Ain't nothin’ left but a few mouse turds and some empty shells. Y'all ready to hit the road?" The southern boy asked as he tilted his head to the side and eagerly awaited their answers. He looked like a cute puppy when you put a toy in front of it with his head cocked to the side. Nick felt those butterflies grow stronger, was that fucking possible? fuck. damnit. shit. Coach answered first, "I'm as ready as i'll ever be, we better hurry before i change my mind though." he spoke playfully and headed towards the safe room door, nick couldn't help but wonder how everyone here seemed to always been in such high spirits. Rochelle followed shortly after. "Me too! I'm ready to kick some ass!" she beamed. Nick just sighed, the butterflies started to go away as he thought about how shitty today was probably gonna be, "Yeah, sure, whatever. Woohoo~ I love almost dying." he mocked their enthusiasm dryly. Ellis bounced up and snaked an arm around Nick's torso and looked up to give him a bright smile, "Ya ain’t gotta be such a party-pooper, nicky! You gotta look forward to the badasserey that's about to unfold!" Shitt.fuckdmanitfuckfuckfuckkillmenowfuckfuckfucktisshitdamn. Nick couldn't help it this time, his face flushed, his body tensed, the butterflies came back and he felt like they were gonna fly out of his mouth, "P-p-piss off h-hick!" he pushed the shorter man away from him and turned away so that the others didn't have to see his shame. Ellis didn't notice a thing about the change in his usual behavior though, unlike rochelle and coach who exchanged a smirk. Ellis just shook his head and smiled like a mother who just found her son ass-up in the mud and rearranged his hat on his head, "Aw, nicky! You never like it when i give ya hugs!" the southerner let out a fake pout and gave a fake hurt tone. He then grabbed his shotgun and skipped towards the door. "Alright, alright! No more time to waste, were burnin daylight folks!" He pulled the bar from the safe room door and busted it open, the bright rays of sunlight storming through.


	3. Coach gives nick the "talk"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coach just loves torturing poor nick

Nick's feet were aching, but he kept going, kept running. He was sprinting after Coach, Rochelle and Ellis to the safe room, that day had been hell and they were all ready to get there. After what seemed to be ages, he slide in after everybody and slammed the door shut quickly placing the bar on it. He stared at it for a few moments and huffed and puffed heavily, trying to regain his breath, before he let out a long groan and started to slide down the wall beside him. He could hear the others panting as well. "Well... fuck my legs are killing me!" Rochelle moaned out as she plopped down onto a bed and put her hands on her face, "Today fucking sucked!" Coach just nodded his head, poor guy still hadn't caught his breath yet and could do nothing but pant with his tongue out. Ellis was also panting, his hands on his knees as he healed over, "hff...... yeah, yeah it sucked fucking ass.." he looked up with a tired smile on his face that leaned to one side and looked directly at nick, "Least we all survived, meaning we got another badass story to tell when we make it out of this." Nick felt his heart leap. Fuck. why did he look at him? why is he still looking?? fuck is he smiling fuck fuck.! He quickly looked away like a flustered teenager and stared at the safe room door with an embarrassed expression on his face. Fucking hick. Rochelle let out an exasperated chuckle, "Guess your right, wouldn't mind tellin' my grandbabies about how i set a tank on fire and watched it run into a building!" Ellis straightened out his back, after hearing a few pops and was satisfied smiled at rochelle, which nick silently thanked the heavens for. "Your damn right! Hey, could i be there great uncle? I wanna tell them 'bout how i smacked a hunter right onto a jockey that was tryna get Coach and then killed both them son's o bitches!" Coach finally had caught his breath but the snicker he let out still sounded a bit wheezey, "You think that's a story to tell? What about how i single handedly took down a charger by throwing my empty rifle at it and then lighting it on fire with some incendiary ammo!" Ellis and Rochelle both laughed at all of there amazing tales."Their gonna think were the greatest heroes of the apocalypse or some shit!" Ellis happily exclaimed and did a little bounce. “That’s ‘cause we are!”Rochelle started to snicker at her own joke, but it was interrupted by a yawn that escaped her, she then stretched and gave a tired smile, "I think it's bedtime for me, today has got me dog-tired, gnight y'all!" she pulled a blanket out of her bag and wrapped it around her, rolling over to face the wall. She pulled out and used the same damn blanket everynight, Nick figured it was a sentimental item so he never pried. Ellis nodded his head, "Good thinkin', Ro! ill see yall in the mornin'!" he smiled one last time at both nick and coach and leaned against the wall next to an empty bed. Now him and coach were alone.  
A few seconds of awkward silence passed before coach finally spoke up,"You gotta crush on my Ellis don't ya?" he teased lowly, trying not to wake the others. Nick felt his face try to flush, "W-what? No fucking way, kids annoying to all hell!" Coach only let out a soft laugh and looked to him, "Its written all over your face, Nick. Earlier when he put his arm around you? You looked like a deer caught in the headlights of love." Nick felt the butterflies come back as he remembered the moment, damnit. shiit. no way im in love with him. nuh uh nope nopenope. he didn't answer, he just stared back at Coach, he didn't know what his expression held but he could tell it was probably the stupidest shit because Coach just gave him a soft smile, "I think you should tell him, you'd be surprised to see how much he likes you too! Kid's like a son to me and often confides in me, you know." He gave him a wink and stood up, "I'm heading to bed, gnight nick." He looked down at him one last time, "You remember what i said now, ya hear?" Nick just gave him a glare, to which the other man just grinned and padded off to his bed. The northerner watched him lay down and cover up with a blanket that was already laying on the bed. Nick was now alone. His mind raced with the words Coach had told him. Did he imply that ellis actually... liked him? The thought alone made him all giddy and a small smile escaped his lips. Fuck ellis liked him? he really did? Maybe if he did tell him they could be-. what . the fuck. was he saying! He was talking like a damn schoolgirl! He didn't like ellis, he hated him in fact. Sure, the kids always one for a smile, he helps him feel better by just existing, and he genuinely cares for his friends. And *sure* the kid had pretty green eyes, a cute nose that always crinkled up when he sniffed some boomer bile, and a nice slightly chubby but well fit body...... Fuck. Maybe he really did have a crush on him? He always knew he was pan, but he had always been under the impression that he thought ellis was an annoying and stupid hick. Maybe deep down he found it endearing in a way. Damnit, listen to him! Was he really going to admit he had a crush on Ellis?

Short answer: yes


	4. Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of it all!!!!!!!!! i hope u had fun reading it <33333333

Nick couldn't sleep like this. His mind was going at a hundred miles a minute and he couldn’t get himself to calm down for a second. A walk would help. Maybe. Probably. He sighed as he stood slowly, the idea was better than nothing at least. He wouldn't dream about going outside the saferoom at night, especially not alone, so he opted for taking a look around the saferoom. They were in an old house that was settled in an old suburban neighborhood, faded wallpaper covered the walls and the floorboards moaned underneath his feet. Pictures of the old residents family and friends were hung on the walls but most all of them were graffitied over so he couldn't make out any faces, except for one. Four young adults all stood together in front of a gas station holding slim jims and slushies. There was a tall blonde guy in a blue hoodie who stood there kinda awkwardly with his left arm wrapped around a shorter one in a lighter blue hoodie, their eyes shone brightly as they smiled wide with their arms around all of their friends, they looked like they were struggling to bring them up so high. The one next to light-blue hoodie was a nerdy looking and taller person who had a big smile on their face and their glasses were pushed slightly to the side, the last one looked chiller than the rest but still held a smile, one hand was extended to hold out their slim jims in a proud manner, they had a slogan on their shirt that simply said "YIFF ME!" in all caps and had a dog on it that was smiling. Nick couldn't tell what it meant. What the hell was yiff? Well, he couldn't look it up seeing as he was still in the fucking apocalypse so he dropped it and went to explore more of the old house. He walked into the kitchen, it was cozy and still held some old appliances, no food unfortunately. The counter that laid in the middle was dusty, seeing as it hadn’t been cleaned in so long. He took a minute to look around, he imagined the four in the picture baking a cake happily. Light-blue hoodie would probably put some frosting on yiff-shirts nose and laugh. Yiff shirt would probably retaliate by grabbing a small handful of icing and smashing it one light-blue hoodies face and everyone would start laughing, to which light-blue hoodie would rub their face against blondey and get it all over their face. Blondey then would wipe off the icing with their hand and fling it at glasses, landing them square in the face, they started to laugh with everyone else eventually joining in. It would eventually devolve into an all out icing war and they wouldn't have any left, but they still eat the cake and it's really good. Nick felt a pang of grief in his chest at how normal it seemed. He didn't know these people and yet he still couldn't help but wonder if they made it out alive. He kinda wished they were. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone clear their throat in front of him. He shook his head and looked up, surprised to see ellis leaning against the doorway of the kitchen. "Howdy." he spoke quietly, giving him a lazy smile. Nick found it strange at seeing ellis so calm, but he shook it off as the kid being tired. "Hey..." he didn't know what else to say, this was so fucking awkward, fuck what was he supposed to say? "What're you doing up?" he asked. Ellis just looked at him for a second before looking down at the ground, kicking his foot on the old floor and kicking up some dust, "W-well ah couldn sleep, so ah figured id just have a look around.." he seemed unsure, the stutter made that clear, ellis never stuttered, he was always sure-footed and confident. Nick raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?" he crossed his arms at the hicks obvious lie, ellis looked up at him sheepishly before he sighed,slumping his shoulders and looking downwards, "No, ya caught me," Ellis straightened up again, breathing in and out deeply, and started to scratch the back of his neck, "Ah was about to go to bed, and then i heard you and coach talkin about... well uh you liking me n' all that." Ellis kept looking at the ground, an obvious red hue rising to his face. "A-ah saw you get up and come in here and i figured that uh.." he cast a glance at nick before looking more embarrassed than before and hiding his face behind his hands, "n-nevermind.." Nick felt himself tense up, was ellis trying to.. confess? Holy shitohgodfuckfuccufkfcuholy. WHAT? Fuck!!!! What the hell! Holy shit shily shit holy shit! Fuck fuck helvoedhimellisactually lvoed himahshdhsf  
"I love you too."   
The words spilled out of him before he could stop and think about it. what the hell did he just say? ohmygodellisisgonnathinkwereweirdfuckfuckf shit fuck. The butterflies had come back and seemed more aggressive than before, it was like jet engines were attached to them and they were flying at supersonic speeds. Ellis looked at nick like he had been shot, "Y-you.." ellis stared at him for a moment, the same expression on his face before a huge smile overcame him. He slid over the counter that was between them and ran up to give nick a huge bear hug, "You love me! Ah never thought id live to see the day, nicky!" he was practically bouncing nick up and down before he stopped, looked up and stood on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on nick's lips. Nick was taken back for a moment before he found himself kissing the southerner back with more passion, his arms snaking around the other to pull him closer. Ellis let out a small sound at the sudden fire in nick's body language, but didn't object and kept kissing him. His lips were soft against nick chapped ones, it added a nice friction between the two. Nick eventually pulled back for air and looked down at ellis as they both inhaled and exhaled for air. Ellis' eyes were shining brightly, his lips were slightly parted to reveal buck-teeth that were chipped, his hat had been slightly off and revealed a couple strands of curly hair. He was so fucking cute. He was about to lean down and kiss him again when a yawn fell from the other man's lips, nick let out a small laugh, "We better head to bed." Ellis just nodded and followed closely behind nick as he lead them to an empty bed. They both laid down and ellis quickly fell asleep, light snores escaping him. Nick felt.. good with ellis' arms wrapped around him, the warmth and the fact that ellis was with him was comforting and he drank it all up gratefully. Nick felt more at peace than he had his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES i did add in me my gays in the story i'm light-blue hoodie eli is blondey fawn is glasses and liz is yiff shirt :3ccccccc


End file.
